Human Elephant Conflict in Nkala Game Management Area

2015 Final Report

Funded By:

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INTERNATIONAL ELEPHANT FOUNDATION

CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH PROJECT GRANT

FINAL REPORT 2015

a) PROJECT TITLE: Human-elephant conflict in Nkala Game Management Area

b) FINAL REPORT

c) Principle Investigator Dr Kerryn Carter Kafue Research Project Game Rangers International – (GRI) d) Project Start Date: January 2015 e) Project End Date: December 2015 2) Conservation needs Since September 2011 poaching of wild elephants in Kafue National Park has increased sharply, with some of the poaching events occurring within the study area. In other areas of Africa, a direct link has been made between crop damage from human-elephant conflict and the levels of elephant poaching. Communities adjacent to southern Kafue National Park have become disgruntled with the increasing levels of human-elephant conflict and are urging Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to control it. In the study area, 564 reports of elephant crop damage have been recorded by ZAWA between 2011 and 2015 and local media reported in 2012 that elephant crop-raiding resulted in displacement of farmers from their homes due to fear of elephants. Community members feel that the elephant population is increasing rapidly and are pressuring ZAWA officials to do more to alleviate the associated problems within communities. By alleviating this conflict, it is anticipated that communities will be more accepting of elephants and thereby work together with ZAWA for their long-term conservation.

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3) Summary of goals and objectives The goal of the project is to mitigate the impact of elephants on the livelihoods of farmers living adjacent to Nkala GMA. Objective 1 Continue trials of a new HEC technology - Flashing Light fencing systems – and conduct new trials of - Polywire electric fences - to deter elephants from maize crops Objective 2 Increase understanding about elephant movements into the communities and their motivations for doing so Describe any changes in goals N/A 4) Actions taken Objective 1

• Trials of 4 Flashing Light fencing systems and 4 Polywire electric fencing systems were undertaken on maize fields between March and May 2015 at three sites (as in 2014) in high conflict areas near to the boundary of the protected area

Objective 2 • Six camera traps were deployed in May after the maize harvest to monitor elephant

movement pathways between the protected area and the communities. Camera trap data were collected over a six month period from May to November 2015. To supplement the camera trap data, 25 km of the protected area/community boundary was also inspected each week for signs of elephant activity.

5) Activities that differed from the original proposed actions Electrification of Flashing Light fencing systems The Flashing Light and Polywire Electric fencing systems were not combined as originally proposed, but were trialled separately. This change to the original methodology was made to reduce the overall cost of each Polywire Electric fencing system to increase the likelihood that the technology could be taken up by individual farmers if they wished. 6) Conservation outcomes The immediate conservation/community outcomes that we observe from our work revolve around improving farmers’ attitudes towards conflict with elephants and fostering a more positive outlook for the future.

All farmers in our trials of Flashing Light and Polywire Electric fencing systems showed extreme gratitude for our efforts in helping them deter elephants from their maize fields and all farmers showed some reductions in maize losses. During our trials, many other farmers

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also approached us to request assistance in deterring elephants and many were keen to participate in GRIs chilli crop programme that began this year as another elephant deterrent strategy. Chilli crops are unpalatable to the majority of wildlife pests, including elephants, and by establishing chilli farming in our community farmers’ dependence on maize crops as their sole livelihood can be reduced, and each household can be provided with some expendable income. Continuing such engagement with the community in conjunction with the Zambia Wildlife Authority is increasing the confidence of farmers that there are solutions to human-elephant conflict that can reduce the problem in the future. Major findings and accomplishments to date: Objective 1 Elephants did not challenge the Flashing Light fencing systems to enter maize fields at two sites where the elephant visitation rates were the lowest. At the other two sites where elephants visited the fields every 2 or 3 days, elephants began to break through the fence in less than one month and continued to do so thereafter, similar to the results of the 2014 trials. The Polywire electric fencing systems were very effective in deterring elephants. Once elephants had touched the polywire once, there were no further challenges to the fence thereafter, regardless of the elephant visitation rates or the length of time after the contact. Therefore elephants did not habituate to the electric fence once they learned the danger of it. This does suggest that the same elephant herds were re-visiting the trial farms and that individuals were able to learn to avoid the fence from other elephants in the herd. Habituation of elephants to the Flashing Light fencing system over time was faster than the Polywire electric fencing systems especially at farms with high elephant visitation rates. This confirms that the Flashing Light fencing systems are best used on farms that experience lower elephant visitation rates. Objective 2 Six camera traps were deployed over a 6.5 month period from May to November 2015 along regularly used elephant pathways at the interface between the protected area and the community areas. To supplement the camera trap data, other community areas that may potentially have been visited by elephants during the dry season were investigated by inspecting 25 km of the protected area/community boundary (Fig. 1) by vehicle each week for signs of elephant activity. Farmers were also questioned about elephant sightings on an ad-hoc basis. In total, the camera traps captured 134 elephant herds on 74 separate nights. Elephant herds were recorded by the camera traps as leaving the protected area to enter community areas from 17:30 in the evenings, and returning to the protected area by 8:00 in the mornings. Only four herds were recorded moving across the protected area boundary during the day (between 8:00 and 17:00 hrs). Two-thirds of herd movements were recorded between 5:00 to 7:00 hrs in the mornings (n=38) and between 17:00 to 21:00 hrs in the evenings (n=47), including an evening peak from 18:00 to 19:00 hrs (n=18). The average size of the elephant herds captured by the camera traps was 2.95 (median 2) with a range from 1 to 25, although these herd sizes are likely to be understated as not all herd members may have been captured by the stationary camera traps.

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Two main areas of elephant movement into community areas were identified (Fig. 1). The first was a 1.3 km section of the protected area boundary located two kilometres north of Shanangoma scout camp. The second was a forested area south of the New Ngoma/Choonze farming community (see Fig. 1 – to the south of Shanangoma scout camp). The camera traps recorded regular elephant activity in these two areas over the 6.5 month period of the study. North of Shanangoma, elephants were captured on camera traps on 35 separate nights, and south of the New Ngoma/Choonze area, elephants were captured on camera traps on 52 separate nights. Ground investigation of these regularly used pathways revealed that north east of the Shanangoma scout camp, elephants were entering the community areas to feed on the annual fruits of fan palms (Hyphaene ventricosa), which grow in large concentrations in this approx 30 km2 area (Figs.1 & 2). Farmers’ reports and the presence of elephant dung showed that elephants moved as far as seven kilometres east of the protected area to access palm fruits. Further south adjacent to the New Ngoma/Choonze farming community, elephants appeared to use the cover of wooded areas south of harvested maize farms to move up to 10 km east of the protected area to feed on indigenous fruit trees. Although there are a number of elephant-preferred indigenous fruit trees in community areas that produce fruit during the dry season (e.g. Mubola (Parinari curatellifolia) July-Oct; Mukunku (kudu berry, Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia) June-Oct), interviews with farmers suggested that the elephants were targeting a grove of Muyu trees (Scotsman’s rattle, Amblygonocarpus andongensis) (Fig. 1). The two main areas that we identified as having regular elephant movements into community areas throughout the dry season also had high levels of elephant crop raiding during the wet season, when subsistence farmers grow their maize crops. This suggests that certain elephant herds in these areas utilize resources (both crops & wild fruits) year-round in the community areas; therefore community areas form a regular part of their foraging range. In Namibia, maize crops close to regularly used elephant pathways were visited by elephants more frequently and raided significantly more often than fields further away (Von Gerhardt et al. 2014). This was evidenced by our study, as both of the areas that we recorded as being regularly utilised by elephants in the dry season were adjacent to farms that experienced high levels of maize crop-raiding during the wet season. Our study has provided important information about elephant movements into the communities and their motivations for doing so, which will enable effective targeting of strategies to alleviate human-elephant conflict. Other crop-raiding hotspots in the southern parts of the study area (Fig. 1) showed very little elephant activity during the dry season, suggesting that elephant herds only entered these areas for crop raiding between January and April; therefore efforts to reduce elephants’ access to community areas should be increased in these areas. However the two community areas where elephants were present year-round could be managed by establishing elephant corridors between the protected area and the areas containing the favoured wild fruits, while creating barriers between these corridors and the maize farms (e.g. with chilli crops, electric fencing, etc).

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7) Problems during grant period Funds could not be procured to fit the two GPS tracking collars that were funded by IEF to monitor elephant movements. As such, the second instalment of funds granted by IEF was not requested by GRI. 8) Project success One of our short term goals was to reduce maize crop losses from elephant damage. Our trials of Flashing Light fencing systems and Polywire Electric fencing systems in 2015 assisted 8 farmers to reduce maize crop losses. Another of our short term goals was to identify elephant movement pathways into the communities and identify potential elephant movement corridors. We have been able to identify herds that exhibit ‘acceptable’ behaviours in their utilisation of natural resources in the communities such as wild fruits and pods throughout the year, compared to herds that only enter the communities for crop raiding between January and April. This greater understanding of the movement pathways and seasonal use of community areas by elephants has been discussed with ZAWA so that improvements in land use planning and HEC mitigation measures can be tailored for specific areas based on elephant movement behaviours (e.g. elephant movement corridors versus barrier fencing). Our long term goals were to provide solutions for human-elephant conflict within the communities bordering southern Kafue National Park, Zambia and help communities to realise some benefits from living with elephants. We continue to take great steps towards this goal by making new deterrents available to farmers, positive engagements with the community and introducing trials of chilli crops with a known market and buyer. 9) Next steps

• Further tests will be carried out on the Polywire electric fencing systems to measure the maximum distance that can be electrified using the current configuration of the portable solar energiser packs, with the goal of protecting larger areas of maize fields by encircling entire fields if possible.

• Further fine-scale surveys to monitor movements of elephants and other large mammals between the protected area and the community areas are needed as ZAWA officers have recently agreed with local chiefs to investigate the viability of erecting a permanent elephant-deterrent fence along the protected area boundary as a barrier to elephants moving into community areas. Data about large mammals’ seasonal use of community areas adjacent to the protected area, and their spatial distribution along this boundary, will be an important first step in being able to predict the effect of fencing on wildlife inhabiting this area, and provide information to help plan the best locations for elephant-deterrent fences that will minimise disruption to the ecosystem.

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10) Human interest story

The children of Ngoma (an unfenced township of Zambia Wildlife Authority employees within southern Kafue National Park, Zambia) are raised and spend most of their school years in the wilds of an African savannah, surrounded by many iconic African wildlife species, such as elephants, lions and buffaloes. Yet on the not-so-infrequent occasions when elephants wander into the

township to feed on natural vegetation, the children aren’t just nonchalant observers, which you might expect from those who see wildlife on their doorstep every day. With excited chatter they gather to look in wonder at the pachyderms, while keeping a respectful distance. Often, their mothers are also nearby taking photos with their smart phones! The elephants may present themselves calmly on the edge of town as in this photo, or may be found in the school grounds or playground areas and in close proximity to houses. They have also been known to block people inside their homes while feeding casually at the front door...such is life when your home is inside an African National Park! [2 additional photos of elephants in Ngoma are attached] 11) Summary Human-elephant conflict in southern Kafue National Park, Zambia has been on ongoing problem over the past decade. During the maize-growing season at the beginning of each year, elephants leave the National Park under the cover of darkness to raid crops at night, and this threatens the livelihoods of subsistence farmers who have little or no alternative income. It is difficult for wildlife authorities to manage elephant movements into community areas without an understanding on how elephants move through the landscape, their utilisation of resources, the existence of traditional feeding sites, and their motivations for moving into risky community areas. To address this shortfall in knowledge, during the 2015 dry season the Kafue Research Project investigated elephant movements between Kafue National Park and adjacent community areas to ascertain elephants’ seasonal use of community areas and the resources they utilise during the dry season when wet-season maize crops are not an attractant. Elephants habitually use certain pathways when moving between resources, and these pathways can play a significant role in the location of human–elephant conflicts. We placed camera traps two to three metres high in trees along regularly-used elephant pathways at the interface between the protected area and the communities. In addition, we

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inspected 25 km of the boundary between the protected area and the communities by vehicle each week for signs of elephant activity. Two main areas of elephant activity were identified as elephants were captured by the camera traps moving into the community areas around sunset, and returning to the protected area by sunrise the following morning. Elephants were found to be utilising natural palm and tree fruits in the community areas up to 10 km away from the protected area, and these are likely to be traditional feeding sites for this elephant population. Farmers that we interviewed were generally not concerned about elephant presence near their homes at this time of year. Elephants were rarely seen in the community areas during the day, and this temporal pattern mirrored elephant activity during the previous maize crop-raiding seasons when elephants used the cover of darkness for crop-raiding activities. In this respect, elephants apparently did not feel more comfortable in community areas during the dry season when there were no conflicts with farmers over maize crops. Annual wet-season maize crops that are established close to pathways that are used year-round by elephants are likely to be visited by elephants more frequently and raided significantly more often than fields further away. As such, both of the areas that we recorded as being heavily utilised by elephants in the dry season were adjacent to farms that experienced high levels of maize crop-raiding during the wet season. To successfully manage the important year-round resources for elephants in these community areas, elephant corridors could be established between the protected area and the natural resources, while blocking access to adjacent maize fields. Such management of elephant movements would seek to increase the potential for humans and elephants to live in harmony. 12) Brief summary The Kafue Research Project in Kafue National Park, Zambia has identified two potential elephant movement corridors that would help elephants to safely move up to 10 km through community areas in the dry season to access indigenous fruiting trees and palms that are likely to be traditional feeding sites. 13) Organisations associated with the project & their roles Kafue Research Project. Design and implementation of all activities Zambia Wildlife Authority. Project partner providing support, advice and manpower.

Figure 1. Map of the study area showing the protected area to the west and community areas to the east, separated by a red/white line that represents the protected area/community boundary, which was surveyed for elephant sign during the 2015 dry season elephant movement study. The two main locations of elephant movements into community areas that were identified by the study are shown by grey arrows towards the fruiting trees and palms. Blue squares outline hotspots of elephant crop raiding that occurs during the wet season.

Figure 2. Large concentrations of fan palms (Hyphaene ventricosa) to the east of the protected area attract elephants to feed on mature palm fruits in community areas during the dry season.

Figure 3. Remains of palm fruit seeds in elephant dung